Posted by Anas Khalil.
A former executive at a New York investment bank who admitted defrauding investors of more than $38 million was sentenced to four years in prison by a judge who cited his gambling addiction as reason for leniency.
Caspersen is a gambler and an alcoholic who put his family members and friends in a situation of losing millions of dollars through an elaborate scheme involving a make-up of a private equity ventures, with a fake mail addresses, and a fake fictional financier. Caspersen had a gambling illness that once he hit a high of over $100 million one day and bet it all the next on whether the market would go up or down. Thus, he was left with nearly nothing at the end of the trading day.
I think Caspersen’s family members and friends who lost millions of dollars should’ve know that an alcoholic gambler should never have an access to big chunks of dollars. A person who is addicted to gambling will not take a consideration that the money he is using does not belong to his pocket and that he is responsible to turn back the money to who it belongs. However, Caspersen will just gamble with all the money he will have an access to thinking he will earn back the money he lost.
When you have big money, you should be more aware of how you invest your money and to whom you lent it. Caspersen’s family members and friends should have never lent Caspersen any money the minute they knew that he was an alcoholic and a gambler, but unfortunately it is too late to say this.
In conclusion, Caspersen imposed a prison term that fell well short of the 15 years called for by sentencing guidelines or the 7 ½ years recommended by the court’s Probation Department. Caspersen is now going to face jail time which is the lesson for every criminal that breaks the law and put other people in impasses.
Anas is an accounting major at the Feliciano School of Business, Montclair State University, Class of 2018.